Soy FREE Chocolates

April 6th, 2010

Recently I got a call from a family member who was asking about soy free chocolates. She has a friend who just found out she has allergies to soy, wheat, and corn. How horrible! In trying to help her discover a soy free chocolate she turned to me “the family expert”. Luckily I have a box full of empty candy bar boxes and wrappers, my favorites of course. So I quickly pulled them out scouring over the ingredient labels.

Soy Lecithin is a very common ingredient found in chocolate. I often wondered myself what it was and what purpose it served. Lecithin is derived from soybean oil  and used in chocolate manufacturing for its emulsifying properties. Helping to keep the cocoa and cocoa butter elements bonded together and thus increasing shelf life.

In my reading I discovered that during the  process of extracting lecithin from refined soybean oil, most of the allergenic proteins are eliminated. Studies have shown that soybean-allergic individuals are not sensitive to soy lecithin. Although there are people who are allergic to soy lecithin and not sensitive to soy beans.

If you fall into either of these categories or just want to try some damn good soy-free chocolates I have some suggestions for you. I pulled these from my box of “research” and attest for their overall flavor and goodness.

  • Dark Chocolate Twist by Alter Eco. They have other types of candy bars, this one in particular is full of crystallized orange peel.  I could not put it down!
  • Rio Caribe by Rogue Chocolatier. Further proof of my love for Venezuelan cocoa beans. Full of coffee notes with hints of citrus.

Rio Caribe by Rogue Chocolatier

I do have other bars worth mentioning like Amano and Michel Cluizel but they either state on the box; ” may contain traces of” or “is processed on machines/equipment shared with soy products.

Look for these and other great chocolate bars at gourmet food retailers, Whole Foods or your local health food store. Bon Apitite!

3 Responses to “Soy FREE Chocolates”

  1. Lillian says:

    Do you have any suggestions for milk chocolate, for kids? My daughter is allergic to soy and I seem to only be able to find dark chocolate that is soy-free. It doesn’t matter if the chocolate is in a bar, chips, or whatever. Thank you!

  2. Hi Lillian,
    I have searched a bit for you with out much luck. I think it is because soy lecithine is used for a stabilizer which is really needed with the addition of cream. Many of today’s great American chocolate makers don’t even make milk chocolate. But with that being said I have checked the organic chocolate I sometimes use and it has
    sun flower lecithine instead of the soy! Unfortunately I’m currently out of production and stock until October 1st. But after that date I should have some of these solid bars up on my site that are of Dominican Republic origin. Does you daughter have many other allergies? I only ask because some of my other sweet treats are coated in this chocolate as well.

  3. Michael says:

    Other soy free chocolates – Theo, Vintage Plantations, Equal Exchange, and the ultimate Dick Taylor http://www.dicktaylorchocolate.com/ . If you are looking for soy free milk chocolate try Alter Equal’s Dark Velvet or Equal Exchange Milk Chocolate.

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